Art Sunday 06/15/08: Five Classic Paintings of Renoir

Two Sisters on the Terrace, 1881
Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago

Renoir is one of my favorite artists from the impressionist era. It was a tough picking out what would be considered his most classic pieces, but these are my favorites. I love his delicate subjects and beautiful colors. It seems that he was always thinking of springtime, whether it was a bouquet of flowers or a beautiful woman.

If I recall correctly, Renoir was the first artist that I chose to do for my first Art Sunday with Lina exactly a year ago this month !

What is there not to enjoy in a Renoir painting ?

Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881
Oil on canvas
Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington D.C.

Girls at the Piano, 1892
Oil on canvas

Le Moulin de la Gallette, 1876
Oil on Canvas
Musee d’Orsay, Paris

Roses & Jasmine in a Delft Vase, 1866
Oil on canvas

Renoir, Pierre Auguste (1841-1919),

Pierre Renior was a French impressionist painter, noted for his radiant, intimate paintings, particularly of the female nude. Recognized by critics as one of the greatest and most independent painters of his period, Renoir is noted for the harmony of his lines, the brilliance of his color, and the intimate charm of his wide variety of subjects. Unlike other impressionists he was as much interested in painting the single human figure or family group portraits as he was in landscapes; unlike them, too, he did not subordinate composition and plasticity of form to attempts at rendering the effect of light.

Renoir was born in Limoges on February 25, 1841. As a child he worked in a porcelain factory in Paris, painting designs on china; at 17 he copied paintings on fans, lampshades, and blinds. He studied painting formally in 1862-63 at the academy of the Swiss painter Charles Gabriel Gleyre in Paris. Renoir’s early work was influenced by two French artists, Claude Monet in his treatment of light and the romantic painter Eugène Delacroix in his treatment of color. Renoir fully established his reputation with a solo exhibition held at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in Paris in 1883. In 1887 he completed a series of studies of a group of nude female figures known as the Bathers (Philadelphia Museum of Art). These reveal his extraordinary ability to depict the lustrous, pearly color and texture of skin and to impart lyrical feeling and plasticity to a subject; they are unsurpassed in the history of modern painting in their representation of feminine grace. Many of his later paintings also treat the same theme in an increasingly bold rhythmic style. During the last 20 years of his life Renoir was crippled by arthritis; unable to move his hands freely, he continued to paint, however, by using a brush strapped to his arm. Renoir died at Cagnes, a village in the south of France, on December 3, 1919.

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starfishred wrote on Jun 13, ’08

boy you are on the ball today my friend and great pieces,he is next to Degas my favorite in that group.

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lauritasita wrote on Jun 13, ’08

Heidi, Degas would have been my other choice, but I didn’t want to be on the computer all day today trying to make up my mind which painting was better, LOL!!! There’s also Claude Monet’s waterlilies ! Have fun choosing !